The Londoner

By Sikander Hayat No matter how good Kamran Akmal is in batting, his performance with the gloves is nothing but abysmal. He single headedly cost a test series in Australia by dropping half a dozen catches in Sydney and now in Nottingham he has done the same. I believe he needs to be rested and someone one else be given a chance. Kamran can still play one dayers/20 20s but he is not a good enough wicketkeeper to play in the test cricket in his current form. On top of that there are consistent rumours about his involvement with the match fixing and other disciplinary issues. It is time to reassess his contribution to Pakistan cricket team and if found wanting than dropped from the team immediately. Related Posts: 1. Can Pakistan beat Australia Today? 2. Muhammad Sami & Muhammad Asif Destroy Australia 3. Is T20 Cricket Killing Pakistan Test Cricket?

By Sikander Hayat Apparently ISI & Pakistan are so strong & powerful that mighty United States, NATO & India are all feeling a bit defeated & helpless in the mountains of Afghanistan. “Leaks” never happen without a reason and this “leak” is no different. But no one wants to know the real causes of defeat in Afghanistan and I would like to mention a few of these reasons here as follows: 1. United States forgot the important war of Afghanistan and invaded Iraq to fight an enemy which was not there. 2. Important resources were diverted from Afghanistan to Iraq leaving Afghan war not properly funded for a while. 3. When America neglected Afghanistan, space was created for the Taliban to return and convince the local population that foreign forces were not in for the long haul. 4. Indian involvement in Afghanistan to the extent that Indians have consulates all along the Pakistan Afghanistan border which threatened Pakistan’s security and made Pakistan chose former mujahidin

By Sikander Hayat This is a million dollar question. To a neutral observer it’s a no brainer. 40 runs with 7 wickets in hand, surely Pakistan cannot lose from here. Stranger things have happened when Pakistan steps on a cricket ground. The ghosts of Sydney are still haunting Pakistan and the only way to exorcise them is by beating Australia today. Salman Butt will consider himself the luckiest man on this planet if Pakistan pull this one off. After 15 years of humiliation and 13 consecutive defeats, Pakistan is on the verge of a breakthrough and they better win this one.

By Sikander Hayat British Pakistanis are searching for their identity. They are not accepted in their land of birth and nobody consider them a Pakistani in the land of their forefathers. In fact, they have nothing in common with their ancestors in Pakistan but at the same time they are rejected by the British mainstream . There is an extreme form of trust deficit between the old and new communities of Great Britain. First generation Pakistanis were a very afraid people . They were always careful not to hurt the feelings of the locals. They suffered abuse but did not say anything and kept on suffering in silence. Now that the second, third and in some cases even fourth generation of British Pakistanis is growing up in this country, things are different. They consider themselves equal to the average white British person and do not respond very kindly or understandingly to any abuse, discrimination or racism. After all they were born & bred in UK and they have no other land whi

By Sikander Hayat Alas, people will keep on dying everyday. No one in the world will take notice. World is buying the Indian line. They truly believe that India is treating Kashmiris with dignity but during the last 21 years India has just butchered them with impunity and now even street protesters are branded as terrorists by the "free" & "unbiased" Indian media outlets. There are problems in Pakistan as well but at least Pakistan does not claim to be the beacon liberty and democracy in the world. India must understand that Kashmir's problems are not economic which can be alleviated by building roads and bridges but is truly of a political nature. Kashmir needs a political solution and a grand bargain between India, Pakistan & the people of Kashmir. Until that happens, any normality in Kashmir will be of superficial nature and nothing more than a lull before another storm.

By Sikander Hayat Germany outclassed Argentina comprehensively in this match in which Germany scored 4 goals and made their way to the semi-final of this first ever world cup in South Africa. Even Angela Merkel was showing some emotions after a torrid week in Germany’s politics. Germany were too good at counter attacking football and after soaking up some great Argentinian attacks made inroads into the Argentinian half and scored more often than not. Germany had two players of Muslim descent Mesut Ozil & Sami Khadira and both of them played vital part in Germany’s win. If Germany can win this world cup it might do a lot for the integration of Muslims in Germany and Germans may finally accept them as Germans who are as committed to the Fatherland as they are. One can only hope.